Pulling up in the driveway, Danny's tired eyes searched for a spot he could dump the ageing truck. With more and more of the family getting their licences and wanting their own wheels, finding a space was getting anywhere was lucky.
Eventually finding a spot, the tired rabbit lethargically pulled his keys out of the ignition and, shutting the door with a rusty clunk, headed over to the burrow.
Pushing through the door, the house was silent. It was very late, or very early. The need of an iCarrot watch once again crossed his mind, though having the money to get one was not something he could consider right now. All he wanted to consider was curling up in bed and sleeping until the late afternoon.
The living room showed all the signs of a usual night at the Hopps' residence. Books and toys strewn everywhere as if strategically placed to trip up groggy nurses on their way back from another night-shift with unannounced overtime, taking his nine hour shift, to a fifteen hour one.
'I really need to stop saying yes all the time...' Danny mumbled, his voice a little hoarse and scratchy.
Yet, with years of practise under his belt, Danny deftly stepped over every single toy; avoided all the many hallway's creaky floorboards; descended the many, many flights of stairs with barely a sound, and shut his bedroom door behind him with only the faintest of clicks.
Sighing with relief, Danny switched on the light and turned to collapse on the bed. He hardly made a step forward before his bleary eyes recognised the strange scene before them.
Sat on the edge of the bed, his head drooped over, Shu snored gently. Puzzled, Danny's eyes started to re-focus as his brain began to wake up a little.
For as long as he had known him, he had never looked so well dressed. As his dad would say: "He looks like he's been dragged through a hedge backwards." It always looked as if Shu had walked into a clothes explosion and returned with whatever debris had hit him.
But, sitting at the end of his bed, Shu looked good. Really good. A white shirt, looking freshly ironed with rolled up sleeves; a pair of tan chinos that looked like they were actually designed to fit him and didn't trail on the floor, and a decent pair of shoes with actual laces. Real laces! Even his fur was groomed properly, with a healthy sheen and softness that Danny couldn't help but touch.
His paw stroking his arm, Danny smiled at the healthy amount of meat on his bones. Just to think, just over a year ago, he could have slid under the doors he was so thin. But now, with some help from his overly doting mother no doubt, he was more or less a healthy weight.
'And then some.' Danny thought, his paw feeling the muscles he had gained too. It had taken a while but, after being decisively beaten by Amelia in an arm-wrestling match for the fifth time in a row, he taken up her offer to use the Hopps' gym with her. And it had certainly paid dividends. While not the broadest, toughest guy out there, the muscles definitely let him fill out his clothes quite nicely.
'Very nicely.' The hare blushed, his eyes lingering the fur-tight shirt.
After a few quiet moments, Shu shifted and began muttering a few garbled words.
'Hey, hey, it's just me.' Danny reassured, rubbing his shoulder gently.
'Danny,' Shu mumbled, sleep still holding onto his vocal cords. 'When did you get here?'
'Just a few minutes ago. You were out for the count.'
'Was I?' Befuddled, Shu looked around the room, his eyes flinching a little at the light before noticing the pitch black view from the window.
'Oh hell,' Shu said, flopping onto the bed, his legs still dangling off the end. 'You took the bloody overtime, didn't you?'
'Yeah, I did. When have I ever not?'
Shu muttered under his breath as Danny shed himself of his jacket and collapsed on the bed next to him. Shu's paw wrapped round Danny and pulled him into his chest, the shared warmth making Danny smile as his eyelids began to droop.
'You should have gone to bed.' He softly chastised
Shu began to softly massage the tired bun, his practised paws gently kneading out all the stress-induced knots, with Danny sighing and moaning in relief.
'And you should have come home on time.' Shu countered, enjoying the feeling of the soft bunny resting on him, watching as Danny smiled and rubbed his head into the crook of his neck.
'You know I never do. It's my curse.'
Shu's paws stopped their massaging, as they now just trailed up and down his back, softly delighting in the feel of his fur beneath his plaid shirt.
'I thought you would have tried, considering…'
Raising his head, Danny's brow furrowed in puzzlement.
'Considering what?'
Shu's usually cool façade cracked, a tinge of pink appearing on his muzzle.
'Don't make me say it.'
'What? I don't get it. What's special about to-' If it were physically possible, Shu would have been blinded by the lightbulb appearing over his Danny's head. 'Oh… oh.'
A wide, knowing grin crept on Danny's face, as he pulled Shu into an embrace, nuzzling his face against his.
'Trying to be romantic, were we?'
Shu's white muzzle tinged deep red, tried in vain to push himself away from the hug-magnet Hopps.
'Sh-shut up.'
'Aww, my tough mammal wanted to be lovey-dovey.'
'I'll lovey your dovey in a minute.' Shu growled, before wrenching him off and pinning him to the bed.
'I bet you will.' Danny leaned up and pecked his lips, catching Shu completely off-guard.
Though Shu's eyes widened for a moment, his brain quickly caught up with him. Danny, below him, brown eyes wide and looking seductively innocent. Shu smiled and leant down, kissing Danny deeply as his paws wrapped themselves his bunny. They roamed with abandon, feeling under his shirt and loving his soft fur that hid beneath his usual attire.
Danny moaned softly, his tongue dancing with his, his tiredness taking a backseat to the love and joy bursting throughout his body. His paws wrapped around Shu, running his paws across his toned back, sending all kinds of delightful signals to his brain.
Breaking away for a moment, the tiredness seemingly gone for the moment, Shu smiled.
'Happy Valentine's Day.' Shu said, his breathing a little ragged.
His eyes quickly darting to the bedside clock, Danny smiled, before pecking his boyfriend again on his heated lips.
'Happy Valentine's… just.'
The clock reading 23:59 stayed mute, as Danny wrapped his arms around Shu's neck, and quickly pulled the smiling red panda out of its view.
